President Sisi Defends Egypt's Role in Israel-Gaza Conflict

Egyptian president says his country remains committed to the 'Palestinian cause', as Hamas bitter over ceasefire proposals.

By AFP and Arutz Sheva Staff

First Publish: 7/23/2014, 5:02 PM

Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi

Reuters

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Wednesday defended his country's role in trying to broker a Gaza truce between Israel and Hamas, which accuses him of proposing a ceasefire favorable to Israel.

Unlike his Islamist predecessor Mohammed Morsi whom he toppled and detained last year, ex-army chief Sisi has sought to isolate the Muslim Brotherhood-aligned terrorist movement in the neighboring Gaza Strip.

The Cairo government worked to contain the crisis even before it escalated into a full-blown conflict on July 8, after Israel launched Operation Protective Edge to end rocket fire on its cities, Sisi said.

"Egypt has sacrificed, for the Palestinian cause and the Palestinians, 100,000 martyrs," he said in a televised address, referring to casualties in Egypt's wars with Israel between 1948 and 1973, before Cairo signed a 1979 peace treaty.

"So it is difficult for anyone to engage in one-upmanship, not just regarding (our role) with the Palestinian brothers but also the Arab region," he said in a speech to mark the 1952 military overthrow of the monarchy in Egypt.

Since Morsi's overthrow in July 2013, Egypt has been at odds with Turkey and Qatar, both Islamist-run governments which back his Muslim Brotherhood and have been critical of Sisi's stand on the Gaza conflict.

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called Sisi a "tyrant" who could not be trusted to mediate a truce, while Hamas demands a role for Ankara and Doha, which hosts its political leadership, in any truce negotiations.

Morsi mediated a truce to end an eight-day conflict with Israel in 2012 that Hamas was able to represent as a "victory".

Sisi said his truce proposal would give Hamas its key demand of an end to the eight-year blockade of Gaza once calm is restored.

"What we want is that simple citizens in the Gaza Strip not be subjected to what they are going through now," he said of the proposal, which demands a ceasefire before talks.

Hamas, however, insists on a comprehensive agreement before it agrees to a ceasefire.

It also demands Egypt open its Rafah border crossing with Gaza, the only passage to the coastal enclave not controlled by Israel, and has leveled a score of more outlandish demands, including large-scale releases of terrorists jailed in Israel, the establishment of an airport in Gaza and more.

Hamas argues that Egypt's proposal, which is backed by the United States, United Nations and Arab League, would allow Israel to dictate if and when to ease its blockade on Gaza.